Wireless communication systems have become an important means by which many people worldwide have come to communicate. A wireless communication system may provide communication for a number of mobile stations, each of which may be serviced by a base station.
It may be beneficial to use localized base stations that provide service to a select group of mobile stations. These localized base stations may use less power and have smaller coverage areas than normal base stations. The localized base stations may then provide a mobile station with active voice/data access. As localized base stations continue to improve, more localized base stations will become prevalent.
Examples of localized base stations include femtocells and picocells. Localized base stations may be referred to as femto access points without loss of generality. These localized base stations may be controlled by a user. For example, a localized base station may be purchased by an end user and placed in their home or office to increase wireless coverage. A localized base station may also be controlled by a service provider. For example, a service provider may place a localized base station in a public area with high traffic.
As a mobile station approaches a localized base station, the mobile station may detect the localized base station and attempt to access it by sending a registration request. The localized base station may then determine whether to allow access to this mobile station for different services such as a voice/data connection with the mobile station. Registration requests reduce the battery life of the mobile station and increase the network load. As such, benefits may be realized by reducing the number of registration requests made by a mobile station.